*BoingBoing points to a blog post by a music reviewer who got an earful after his watermarked promo CD went up on a P2P.*The NYTcovers “Across the Universe,” the forthcoming cinematic rocke-era about the Beatles. I posted a clip of the execrable Bono pyschedilically singing in it previously. Also: have I mentioned that I hate Bono?*If you didn’t know: Habbo Hotel is HUGE. The virtual world has 6.5 million active users. Also: the importance of being a “gameless game.”*Listenerd fave Fergie is going green and selling her 2005 H2 Hummer. The $$ will go to Global Green USA. Bidding is currently at $61k. Watch those seats, though!*The iDrink brings iPod style to alcohol consumption. [Shiny Shiny]*The Times on marching bands.

*Amazon is NBC’s new BFF. The network will sell “30 Rock,” “The Office,” “Heroes,” and other shows through Amazon’s Unbox. NBC: “Amazon is a company that understands the value we provide as content owners to its business.” Uh boy.*Other iTunes news: The iPhone was the best-selling smartphone in July, and today holds another big Apple announcement. Rumor has it, if you shine a black light on Steve Jobs’ mock turtle, you will see “EFF NBC” written in invisible ink. Also: new iPods (possibly with internet radio functionality)!*MyStrands launches MyStrands.tv, a music video channel personalizable for each user’s listening habits. Read music 2.0 soc-net operator and MyStrand employee muSick in the Head’s post on it.*Listening Post interviews Johnny Rotten: “Generally, the hippie lot from the previous generation were a spiteful bunch of fuckers. They didn’t want to share the world with us.” Despit advanced age, the guy can still drop a pretty good eff bomb.*A working Guitar Hero controller made out of Legos. LEGOS! [Wonderland]*The MetaCard is a credit card for use in Second Life, and only in Second Life. If you fall behind on your payments, watch out. [Wonderland]*A Zune will now only cost you $200, thanks to a price cut. Still brown. [Techmeme]*Joy Division biopic “Control” now has an official website. [Pop Candy]*The Plusdeck2 converts cassette tapes to mp3s. I have a lot of Pavarotti tapes on the floor of the passenger side of my car for some reason. Don’t ask.*Stephen Hawking has written a children’s book, “George’s Secret Key to the Universe.” It answers one of the eternal questions of childhood: What happens if both your parents are sucked into a black hole?

At Alphabet City a former RS employee writes about what it’s like to work at videogame publisher Rockstar Games.

He says: “Every Rockstar project turned into a huge clusterfuck.”

But also: “I will say that the first time I played Vice City was definitely a moment of zen. That was the first and only time at Rockstar that I really felt like I was involved with something culturally important – pop culture, yeah, but still culture…I still remember firing up the game, getting into a Porsche (they really looked like Porsches at that point) and hearing Kim Wylde’s “Kids in America” come up on the radio. Gave me chills. “More Than This” by Roxy Music was also the theme song to the game at that time, so I still think of the opening to the game whenever I hear that song come on.”

Also, he knew about the notorious “hot coffee” mod for GTA as the game was being published.

*Net Radio gets a stay of execution. New internet radio rates won’t be enforced until a deal is reached. [via]*Local blog Culture Bully points toward the five best music videos featuring puppets. Land of Confusion = #3? COME ON.*Good Magazine presents Linguistic Appropriation – a mix list of songs in which “the speaker wrestles with a foreign language in one way or another.” One that I love, but didn’t make the list: Swede-popper Jens Lekman singing of a lost love: “She said it was ‘all make believe,’ but I thought she said ‘maple leaves.'”*Videogame publishers bring the noise: Investors.com points out the proliferation of music-based videogames, as seen at this year’s (mini) E3. What’s out there or coming? SingStar, Rock Band, the Guitar Hero series, etc. And soon, a music video game for the Wii called Boogie, a party game for the Wii from Konami, and for the Nintendo DS, a game called Jam Sessions. RELATED: Accordian Hero III! [via]*The New York Times on Boomers and their hearing loss. 1 in 6 Boomers can’t hear very well.
*mocoNews gives a round up of a Mobile Music Now! mini-conference. Upshot: Old people (25-44) are the ones who pay for mobile music and tech.
*Daring Fireball roams with his iPhone, noting neighborhood WiFi networks. Some: Notorious BTG, SnazzyPants.

The forthcoming band game (like a next-gen Guitar Hero) that will have video game drums, and mic, in addition to guitar. Gamers will be able to form your band with virtual musicians in remote locations. [via]

Next Great Thing says that music in videogames is a hot commodity (as I noted last week!). Game publisher EA has created Artwerk, its own label. And extra song bundles for games like Guitar Hero II (which RULES, btw) are being licensed, then snatched up by consumers willy nilly.

Pop music isn’t the only genre getting a boost. Classical tunes are getting more listens among Millennials than ever before thanks to Final Fantasy and Super Mario Bros. soundtracks. [via]

Reuters on how videogame publishers are discovering bands, and how videogames get tunes in front of thousands of eardrums, sometimes earning bands enough buzz to get them signed.

Additionally, getting a song into a big-title videogame (like Madden or MLB) is a major aspiration for kids who grew up button mashing. Says one musician on the prospect of scoring a slot: “I’ve been playing video games since I was 5. It would just be sweet.”